ELENA BALTACHA started her season as she means it to continue, breezing past former world No19 Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-3, 6-3 in windy conditions at the WTA event here in Hobart.

British No1 Baltacha, currently ranked 55th in the world, has always felt at home on Australian shores, and it showed as she proved too powerful for the 33-year-old Thai.

After eight weeks of intensive off-season training, Baltacha was clearly eager to return to competition, winning 12 of the first 14 points and hurtling into a 4-0 lead.

Tanasugarn, who has won four WTA titles, bounced back briefly, but it was not enough, and Baltacha, 27, bagged the first set 6-3. Falling 1-3 behind in the second set, it looked like her recent flu bug was catching up with her. But a well-timed visit from coach Nino Severino renewed her resolve and she scooped up the next five games to round off a confident victory.

“I knew I had to be aggressive and take the match to her, which I managed to do,” said Baltacha. “Having not played a match in two months it’s always difficult, but I managed that very well. I enjoyed the battle and obviously I was delighted that I managed to win it.”

Victory was further evidence of Baltacha’s progress over the past 12 months. This time last year she entered the Hobart event as a qualifier. She was winning matches and defeating big-name players, but in fits and starts.

A year later she is in the main draw on merit, and yesterday’s win confirmed she deserves a place in the world’s top 50. The result was all the more impressive considering that her lingering flu had forced her to withdraw from last week’s Auckland tournament.

Melbourne Park has been Baltacha’s most successful of the four Grand Slams. She reached the third round in 2005, coming through as a qualifier, the second round in 2008 and 2009, and made the third round last year, stopped only by the then world No2 Dinara Safina in the Rod Laver Arena.

“I’ve always felt very comfortable in Australia,” she said. “Every time I’m here I feel very welcome and just love everything about it.

“It’s just such a special tournament. When you feel comfortable, you play better tennis.” Guided by Severino, whose background is in karate, Baltacha has been hard at work during the off-season, and she is hoping the results will stand her in good stead this year.

It has been Severino’s aim to add greater consistency to her once hit-and-miss game, and a huge part of that has been improving her movement and fitness.

“We worked very, very hard,” said Baltacha. “I needed to, because obviously I had an amazing year, but there were still areas I needed to improve to get back into that top 50 and keep building from there.

“We worked a lot on my serve, placement, upping the percentages on my first serve so I’m not giving my opponent too many second serves. That has come on, and other areas as well.”

Baltacha, who was due to play her second-round match against fourth-seeded Italian Roberta Vinci, the world No39, in the early hours of this morning, will discover who she faces in the first round of the Australian Open when the draw is made on Friday. ‘I need to get back to the top 50’